1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to protective devices or guards that are worn on an extremity of a person to protect the extremity from blows received during sports related activities. In particular, the present invention relates to such protective devices or guards which are custom molded or formed to the shape of the person's extremity on which the device or guard is to be used. The present invention especially relates to devices or guards of the type that are custom molded or formed to the shape of the shin of the person who is going to use the device to guard or protect the shins of the person when the person is participating in a sports activity such as hockey or soccer.
2. State of the Art
Protective guards that wrap at least partially around an extremity of a person and which are used to protect the extremity from blows received during sports related activities are well known in the art. Straps have been used to secure a rigid guard to the person's extremity. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,406 discloses an adjustable strap that wraps around the guard and the person's extremity. Most participants in a sports related activity such as hockey or soccer find that such straps are objectionable and that further, the straps do a mediocre job of retaining the guard in place during the rigorous action involved in the sports related activity.
To avoid the use of straps, it has been customary for participants in sports such as hockey and soccer to utilize two pair of socks. One pair of socks is worn against the foot and leg of the user, and a second pair of socks is worn over the first pair. A pad or a rigid shell, which is curvilinear so as to wrap around at least the forward portion of the shin of the person is held between the two pair of socks so as to curve around the shin of the person. This technique necessitates the wearing of shoes which are oversized to accommodate the thickness of the double pair of socks over the foot area.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,126 an athletic sock is disclosed having a single foot portion and two leg portions stitched or knitted together so that a shin guard can be worn over the inside sock portion and beneath the outside sock portion. The double pair of athletic socks are however still bulky and uncomfortable, and they do not provide sufficient support for the shin guards. The user has to continually reposition the shin guards after the guards slide downwardly on the leg of the user.
A modified sock-type shin guard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,315 comprising an elastic generally tubular sock member that tightly surrounds the lower leg of the wearer in the vicinity of the shin. A pocket is provided in the front of the tubular member to receive an elongate substantially rigid member that is tapered toward the lower end thereof to substantially conform to the fibula of the wearer. The rigid member is made of heat formable material, and the rigid member is heat formed to the shin area of the leg of the user before the rigid member is inserted into the pocket in the tubular member. The sock-type shin guard of U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,315 is somewhat awkward to use inasmuch as the sock member must be positioned very precisely prior to the insertion of the rigid member, or the sock member and inserted rigid member must thereafter be moved and adjusted to a proper position.